Polyester fibre: Feedstocks
Integration from refinery to yarn decides who wins
What this tab covers What it is made from and what it feeds: the raw materials and energy per tonne with their share of cost (linked to the commodity table), who is low-cost and why, and the chemicals made from it.Polyester fibre is about 80% PTA and MEG by cost, so competitiveness rests on integration back to paraxylene and ethylene oxide, plus plant scale and power cost. Chinese groups run from refinery to yarn on one site. In India, Reliance is similarly integrated, while smaller spinners buy chip or inputs at import parity.
Inputs per tonne
| Input | Quantity per tonne | Role | Share of cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil Crude oil | about 0.86 t per t | terephthalate unit | about 60% of cash cost (indicative) | PTA tile |
| Oil Crude oil | about 0.33-0.34 t per t | glycol unit | about 20% (indicative) | PTA and MEG tiles |
| Electricity and steam | about 0.3-0.5 MWh plus process heat; texturing adds more (indicative) | polymerisation, spinning, texturing | about 8-12% (indicative) | indicative |
| Sb Antimony | about 200-300 ppm Sb in polymer (indicative) | polycondensation catalyst | below 1% | indicative |
| Ti Titanium | about 0.3-2% in semi-dull and full-dull fibre (indicative) | matting | about 1% (indicative) | titanium dioxide tile; indicative |
Who is low-cost, and why
Integrated Chinese groups sit at the bottom of the curve. Reliance is competitive in India. Non-integrated spinners in Southeast Asia, Turkey and India pay import-parity prices for PTA and MEG, which is why India's QCOs on those inputs raised costs for downstream weavers.
Raw materials on the commodity table
Oil Crude oilWhat it is made into
| Product | Note |
|---|---|
| Dye Dyes | disperse dyes for polyester |